A Life Renewed
by Insane Blight
Summary: Ranma and the Getbackers crossover. A past full of pain and suffering, a future filled with anger and despair. Does happiness for a troubled soul truly exist?
1. Chance Encounters

A Ranma ½ Get Backers crossover fanfiction

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ranma ½ and Get Backers, although I dream about it every other day, especially a certain someone who wants nothing more but to find out his own limitations in battle, ah, sweet bloody sword.

_The story of a world headed towards destruction_

_It's not all that scary when I'm with you…_

_A Life Renewed_

_By Insane Blight_

**_Chance Encounters_**__

A woman was walking through the streets of Shinjuku. She has blonde hair that reaches her legs and she has golden eyes. She's wearing a casual business suit and is carrying a small suitcase. She stopped in front of a medium-sized house, knocked a couple of times but there was no answer. Her eyebrows started to twitch and she was about to kick the door open when she noticed that it was already open.

She quietly entered the house, the blonde glanced around the first floor before going upstairs and onto the bedroom. The blonde sighed as she caught sight of a familiar pigtailed boy that was sprawled on the bed. She sat beside the sleeping boy and softly poked his side.

"Ran-kun? Hey, wake up." she whispered to his ear.

"Mmnnn…? Go away old ghoul… I don't want any…" Ranma mumbled out.

The blonde glared at the pigtailed boy. "Ran-kun! Wake up sleepy head! If you don't wake up right now I won't give you a job for a month!" she yelled into Ranma's ear.

THAT worked better than the woman hoped, Ranma was up on his feet in an instant. "A job, a job… wha?! Hevn? How the heck did you get in here?!" he asked in surprise.

Hevn smacked him on the head. "You left the front door open stupid."

Ranma got into Hevn's face. "Be that as it may, you shouldn't sneak up on me like that! You know what I do in those kinds of situations! For all I know, you could've been blasted onto the next town!"

The blonde sighed. "I know… I'm sorry okay? Anyway, I have a job for you… a big one."

The pigtailed boy raised an eyebrow at that. "Big money for me or for you? You tricked me last time around, I only had a tenth of what you received for that mission!"

Hevn sweated, she forgot that Ranma has a way of knowing about these sort of things. "Errr… okay so I slipped up about that one but I promise you that you'll receive more than I do in this one… honest!" she said while reverting to the puppy-dog routine.

Ranma reluctantly agreed to it. "Sigh… so what's the mission this time? A transporter job? Recon? What?" he asked.

"Infiltration…"

The pigtailed boy's demeanor turned serious. "What's the target?"

Hevn opened her suitcase and pulled out a large document file and a folder of pictures. "A computer disc containing valuable business information was stolen a few days ago. The client wants to have it back as soon as possible before the culprits get any chance to fully use it against his company."

Ranma began reading the document as Hevn gave him the specifics on the mission. He then opened the folder and glanced at the pictures in it. One was a map of the building, the rest of the pictures were the photographs of those who were supposedly responsible for the theft. He glanced at the pictures one more time before turning towards Hevn.

"Is this it? Why not assign this to the Get Backers? This is their line of work as well… getting back the disk, I mean."

The golden-eyed girl sat comfortably on a chair. "Ban-kun and Gin-chan can do the job but the client specifically asked for your services, he has heard a lot of great things about the so-called 'shadow mercenary' of Shinjuku even though you refuse to meet your clients in person. Anyway, you have a lot more experience than those two in stealth missions so I also felt it was right to give this job to you."

The pigtailed boy thought about it for a minute before nodding. "Fine, I'll take it. Just normal infiltration right? Ah, well… at least I'll have something to do for a few days."

Hevn smiled, she was about to leave when she remembered something. "Oh! I almost forgot, even though the client highly praises you and your accomplishments he is still a bit weary of you. That's why he hired another one for this mission, the two of you shall work together with you as the infiltrator while the other one shall be the transporter."

Ranma bit his lower lip. "Damn… I work better alone but I guess I have no say in the matter. What's my 'partner's' name?" he asked, although he has this sinking feeling in his stomach…

The blonde shrugged. "I dunno, the client never mentioned it. He said that the two of you shall meet at the southern warehouse tomorrow midnight. That place will be your starting point for the mission."

_'Yup, I knew she'd say that…' _"Gee, would it hurt to just ask? I have no idea who this guy is! Heck! For all I know he could be in on the whole thing!" he screamed at the blonde.

"Well… it's too late for that now, I'll call you as soon as I find some info on this guy alright?" she said, trying to assure the pigtailed boy, and failing miserably.

Hevn left the house after that while Ranma stood at the middle of his room. He then went into the bathroom and stared at himself through the mirror. _'Well… time to go to work.'_

He got dressed in a light blue Chinese clothes with the sleeves rolled up and his usual baggy black pants and Chinese shoes. He glanced at the broken pendant on his desk before leaving the room.

=====

Inside a room in a classy Shinjuku Hotel, Hevn got out of the shower with a sigh. "Whew, that was refreshing. Hmm… Ran-kun certainly was moody today, I've known him for well over four months and I still have no idea what's really under that mask of his."

She poured a glass of wine for herself before she sat down on the sofa. _'Our first meeting wasn't exactly in the best of terms… it brought back a lot of memories from my past with… him…'_

===**Flashback**===

Hevn was on her way to meet a new client, her job as a mediator was fairly easy compared to what the retrieval team goes through in their missions so she really doesn't have anything to complain about. This was an exception though, the meeting place isn't exactly her cup of tea. It was somewhere deep in the slums of Shinjuku so she has every reason to be nervous.

"Miss Hevn right?"

She jerked when someone grabbed her shoulder from behind. She turned around and saw a fairly tall man, his face was being covered by a black scarf.

"Are you the client?" she hesitantly asked.

The man nodded. "Yes I am. I have a job for your Get Backers, I hope that they will do this one right."

The two talked about the specifics of the mission for a few minutes before the man decided to take his leave. Hevn just shrugged and thought that Ban and Ginji can take care of this one with little to no problem. She was almost out of the slums when her path was suddenly blocked by five men that were grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey girl, want to have some fun?"

Hevn told them off and proceeded to walk right past them but her eyes widened when her arms were suddenly gripped rather tightly and she found herself facing a brick wall.

"Let me go! Help!" she screamed.

One of the men laughed. "It's useless, there's no one here to help you unless you count that kid over there, haha!"

The blonde turned to her side and true enough, there was somebody there. He was curled up on the floor, his chinese clothes were torn and bloody, his body was covered in cuts and bruises and his eyes showed no signs of life. Despite knowing that it was useless, she still cried out for help. The men started to advance towards her and she was about to resign to her fate…

"Help… please…" she implored one more time.

"I told you it's useless girlie, now be a good girl and do as you're told and maybe we'll let you live."

The blonde raised her head and spat on the man's face. "Like hell scumbag! Let me go!"

The man's face was filled with anger, he leaned back and was about to slap the woman when he found himself on the receiving end of an uppercut. The other men stared at their fallen friend while Hevn resisted the urge to cry out in joy, she was saved! Hevn looked for her savior and blinked at what she saw. _'The boy from earlier?'_

The boy was standing a few feet from the man he knocked out, his eyes were showing some small signs of life. The rest of the men got out of their daze and began to glare at the boy.

"You little punk! Get him!!!"

The bruised and wounded boy met them head on, he delivered a flying kick to the first thug he reached. He used that thug to catapult himself onto the next one and performed a spinning kick to the second thug's head, knocking a few teeth loose in the process. The third one was stunned for a minute before he gathered enough wits to resume his attack. The boy ducked the oncoming punch as he planted his feet on the floor, he punched the thug's chest with more than enough force that sent shockwaves to the wall behind the thug.

Hevn couldn't believe her eyes at what she was witnessing, she sat down hard on the floor. _'Wow! He's really something, I wonder where he learned to fight like that?' _

The fourth one got a steel pipe from a corner, he charged the wounded boy as he swung the steel pipe. His eyes widened when the boy blocked it with his left arm, from the looks of it, the arm seemed to have been broken by the impact but the boy didn't seemed to be fazed by the attack at all. Said boy grabbed the bent pipe with his good arm and he swung at the man causing him to be knocked out with his neck in an awkward position.

The boy looked at the awestruck woman before offering his hand to her. Hevn nodded and stood from where she was at and dusted herself off. Hevn noticed the boy was about to leave so she decided to speak up.

"Um… thanks for the help, I really appreciate it."

The wounded boy nodded slightly before he started to walk away once more. The blonde was about to go after him when she found herself being held at gun point.

"Hey kid, don't think you'll get away that easy! Make one wrong move and she gets it!"

A vacuum blade was the boy's response, it sliced the gun in two and scared the man silly. The wounded boy ran towards the frightened man and delivered a high knee strike to the man's face. He then grabbed the man's head and slammed it to the ground.

Hevn's sigh of relief was short lived when another one got up and pointed another gun at her from a distance, she then found herself knocked to the side as the gun went off. Her eyes widened as a memory hit her.

_"Hevn, you should get out of here!"_

_"Eiji!!!"___

She was snapped back into reality when she saw the boy knelt down in pain. His already injured left arm was shot and so was his right leg. The thug approached the two and pointed his gun to the boy's head, Hevn gaped in awe as a greenish glow surrounded the boy.

"Shi… Shi… Hokodan…" he mumbled. Hevn could've sworn that she saw tears fall from the boy's face as he said that out loud.

A wave of ki blew the man away, sending him flying to kami-sama knows where. The boy looked at Hevn before he lost consciousness due to blood loss.

===**End Flashback**===

Hevn sighed. "He was quiet for some time after that incident. All he ever said was that his name is Ranma, that's it. The doctors said that he will be fine physically in a few weeks but emotionally is another matter. I wonder what happened to him to have that look the first time I saw him? Sigh… I'm still wondering why he accepted this line of work so easily."

She finished her glass of wine before she decided to go look for some information regarding this transporter that the client hired. _'Maybe I can ask Paul about this one.'_

=====

At a somewhat small café named Honky Tonk, a man was sitting on the counter while reading today's newspaper. He was probably in his thirties, has dark-orange hair and his eyes were being covered by his round sunglasses. The man heard the front door open, he turned his head slightly to see who entered the café, he smiled as he recognized the person.

"If you're looking for those two idiots, they haven't returned yet. I think that those two are becoming really desperate in making money and you know how those two will react if they catch you here." He said with a laugh.

The blonde smiled. "Actually, I don't have a job for them yet Paul so I would prefer to not bump into them today. I have a favor to ask of you." she requested.

Paul's eyebrow shot up. "Oh?"

"I want to find out about the person that my client hired. His job for the mission is a transporter, my best retrieval agent is a little cautious about this mission if you could believe that." she explained.

Paul chuckled a bit. "It's rather unusual for the Ranma we know to act like that. I thought for sure that he will accept any job no matter what the conditions are. If I didn't know better, I'd say that he doesn't care whether he survives the mission or not."

Hevn was a little crestfallen at that statement. "Yes, that's what I thought so too…"

Silence ensued inside the café, remembering the time when Hevn brought the wounded teen right here at the café. A little while later, Paul motioned for Hevn to follow him upstairs to his computer. Hevn was still amazed at the large amount of information the man in front of her has.

"Let's see… ah! Here it is…" Paul clicked a button and showed the image of the man.

Hevn's eyes widened while Paul let off a low whistle.

"Your client must really need that item of his to assign someone like him to be teamed up with your talented retrieval agent. I think that the mission is as good as done with those two together… if they can find a way to work together that is." Paul chuckled.

Hevn immediately dialed Ranma's cell number, but she cursed out loud when no one answered.

=====

_"I… I am…"_

_"No, no, you're not, you 're not…"_

_"Listen to me please! I'm begging you… please… listen to what I have to say."_

_"I don't know you! I-I've __nev__er met you in my life! Get away from me… stay away!"_

"Nooooooooo!!!"

Ranma woke up with a start. His eyes were wide from the nightmare he just had and his body was covered in sweat. He got up from his bed and directly went into the kitchen, he drank a glass of water like his life depended on it. He noticed his reflection on a mirror just as he was finishing his glass, his grip on the glass tightened before he threw it towards the mirror, causing both to shatter to pieces.

"If only you weren't such a coward back then…" he said to his reflection from the shards on the floor.

**=====**

Next day, Ranma was walking around Shinjuku with a sad look on his face. In his mind though, the same words kept repeating themselves. Coward, useless coward…

_Stay away from me you… freak! I don't know you! I don't know anyone like you!_

"Damn it…" he whispered into the air.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard two men screaming at each other. One has brown spiky hair and blue eyes, he was wearing a baggy white button down shirt, black pants, leather shoes and round sunglasses. The other one has blonde hair and brown eyes, he's wearing a white shirt, a green jacket, brown shorts and a pair of sports shoes.

"Ban-chan… I'm hungry…!" the blonde whined.

"Shut up and help me with these flyers! There hasn't been any client for days so we don't have any money for food!" the other one replied.

Ranma shook his head. _'Get Backers huh? Raitei Amano Ginji and 'Jagan' user Midou Ban… a weird pair if you ask me. Come to think of it, Hevn did say that they almost always get the job done as well. Speaking of which, who the heck is my partner anyway? I got a bad feeling about this mission… sigh, eheh, maybe I can finally find it after this is over.'_

The pigtailed boy walked passed by a certain high school on his way back to his house. He noticed a couple of girls looking at him with hungry eyes but he decided to ignore them.

"Who's the hunk?"

"He's so cool! Don't you think so Natsumi-chan?"

"What? Um, I don't know… maybe?"

Ranma sighed as he passed the school. _'Yeah, that's what they think… until they see my damn curse…' _he thought angrily. Then he chuckled slightly as a memory suddenly hit him.

===**Flashback**===

Hevn heard Ranma's front door open, she was patiently waiting for the pigtailed boy's return from the easy job she has given him.

"Ran-kun…? Did you finish the job…? Who are you?!" the bewildered blonde woman shouted.

Ranma-chan scratched the back of her head as she bowed her head. _'Dang… I forgot to change…'_ "It's Ranma…" she whispered, shuffling with her feet.

Hevn looked at Ranma-chan suspiciously. "Oh, you mean you're Ranma's girlfriend? I didn't know he already had one! And I didn't know he had it in him to make a move on a woman before so…"

The red-head resisted the urge to twitch before he slammed her hands on the table. "I said… it's me, Ranma! I'm Ranma! Yeah, that pigtailed boy! I work for you remember?!" she bellowed.

The blonde blinked at the outburst. _'She does look a lot like him…' _"Ranma? H-how?"

"It's a curse I got from China. Cold water turns me into a girl, hot water turns me back to normal."

Hevn was still skeptical of the whole thing but a quick demonstration quickly took care of that. Ranma allowed the blonde to rest on his bed after she fainted from shock. Hevn was silent after she woke up a few hours later but that didn't last for long, the blonde actually took the whole thing rather well, she just said that being around people with unique abilities did the trick.

"I can go undercover with my cursed form while I can do the other jobs with my true form."

The blonde nodded. "I see it now. I wonder what Paul would say when he sees this!" she exclaimed.

"He'll probably think I'm a freak." Ranma-chan muttered as she hung her head. Her blue eyes widened as he received a comforting hug from the one whom she thought was just like Nabiki. "Thanks Hevn…"

Hevn released the hug. "Don't mention it. So, how did your mission go? I hope…"

===**End Flashback**===

Ranma shook his head and went on his way. _'That was probably the only good memory I have of this curse… though the look on her face… haha…'_

=====

Ranma arrived at the Southern Warehouse meeting point a few minutes before midnight, he was wearing dark chinese clothes that seemed to match the seriousness of his face. _'Who the heck is my partner anyway? Hevn no Yarou… when is she gonna call me about it?'_

He tensed as he felt another presence in the room. He turns around and saw a man in long, dark trenchcoat with matching black hat that covers his eyes. The man removed his hat and smiled at the pigtailed boy.

"So… you're my partner for this mission?"

"Hai, Kuroudo Akabane desu."

**=====**

**AN:** I just had to write this darn idea down, it's been bothering me for months. Anyway, R&R please, I want to know what you think about this. Good? Bad? Need some more work? Oh, this takes place just before the start of the anime series for Get Backers. Ranma ½ a few months after the Ryu Kumon arc.

Ranma has changed, this fic will revolve around him and why he became like this, the rest of the Ranma ½ cast will appear later on. Why Get Backers? I just thought that a certain smiling, somewhat psychotic doctor from that series was perfect for the tone of the fic. Oh, and he'll meet a few other 'interesting' people along the way.

Till next time, Ja ne!

**Next Analogous Beliefs**


	2. Analogous Beliefs

A Ranma ½ Get Backers crossover fanfiction

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ranma ½ and Get Backers, although I dream about it every other day, especially a certain someone who wants nothing more but to find out his own limitations in battle, ah, sweet bloody sword.

**_A Life Renewed_**

_By Insane Blight_

_Analogous Beliefs_

"Hai, Kuroudo Akabane desu…"

Ranma was about to respond when his phone rang, he immediately picked it up without ever breaking his gaze at the man in front of him.

_"Ran-kun? It's me, Hevn… I got the information from Paul. Your partner is Kurodo Akabane a.k.a. Dr. Jackal, he is known for being a ruthless murderer. Not much else is known about him but he is a very dangerous man, I think you should back down from the mission Ran-kun."_

"It's a little too late for that." Ranma whispered.

Jackal walked towards the preoccupied boy with a smile. "May I know your name? I think that it is customary for two people working together to know each other's names at least." He inquired in an extremely polite tone that had the pigtailed boy wondering if he really was all that bad.

"Ranma."

Akabane put his hat back on. "Ranma-kun is it? I hope we could work well together in this mission."

The pigtailed boy shrugged. "Whatever, you do your job and I'll do mine… simple as that." He said as he exited the warehouse.

Dr. Jackal stood there for a minute before he chuckled at Ranma's attitude. He held the tip of his hat with his fingers as he smiled. "A professional way of thinking, it seems like we'll get along just fine Ranma-kun."

=====

The mission was fairly easy compared to what Ranma was used to during his past missions. That's why he was currently wondering why that is considering Hevn's track record for giving him very difficult missions up to this point. He effortlessly broke into the building's defenses and alarms while his partner Jackal just watched a few feet from behind him, as if he was observing how the pigtailed boy worked.

"Just out of curiosity, why are you following me? You're job for the mission was to be a transporter not as a retrieval agent much less an infiltrator." Ranma whispered to his partner.

Akabane smiled under his hat. "Yes, I was assigned as a transporter but I would also like to entertain myself during my missions." he replied.

Ranma was about to ask more when the two of them heard an alarm go off. The pigtailed boy cursed saying that the guards he knocked out must've regained consciousness already. Akabane on the other hand, seemed pleased at the commotion that was currently going on inside the building.

"My, my, it looks like I will enjoy this mission sooner than I thought." Jackal said excitedly as he saw a couple of armed individuals charging right at them.

Ranma watched with raised eyebrows as Dr. Jackal pulled out four surgical knives from his closed right hand. _'Hidden Weapons Technique? No… it's something else… what the heck was that?' _He snapped out of it when Jackal dashed towards the guards with such speed that to the untrained eye, it may look like he was teleporting instead of running. Jackal stopped a few feet behind the guards and he held the tip of his hat once more.

The guards screamed as blood gushed out of their backs as a very large wound in the form of the letter J appeared on it. Akabane looked at his partner and he couldn't help but be surprised at what he saw. Ranma was as calm as one can be; he just stared at the bloody scene in front of him with an emotionless face. _'Oh? A mere boy in his late teens reacting like that at this kind of bloodshed? Very interesting Ranma-kun.'_

"Are you done playing around? We still have a mission to complete doctor… damn!" he cursed as he recognized the man in the photos Hevn gave him hurriedly went inside a very expensive car and proceeded to leave the building at high speed.

Ranma quickly opened the sixth floor corridor window and did a series of jumps and flips that resulted in him landing on the ground floor safely. He then ran after the car with speed that rivaled the one Akabane used earlier. Speaking of which, Akabane watched from the sixth floor as Ranma slowly vanished from his line of sight. "Ranma-kun… it seems that there is more to you than what you've shown so far…"

=====

"He's slowing down… good, he actually thinks that nobody is following him." The pigtailed boy said as he chased after the car via roof hopping. _'Looks like Hevn's track record still stands.' _He thought with a wry smile.

Ranma increased his speed once more before he decided to jump on top of the car. He proceeded to break the glass window on the driver's side, he grabbed the man by the collar and he forcefully dragged him outside through the broken window. He quickly snatched the small suitcase from the driver's clutches and not soon after that, the car started to careen out of control. Ranma knocked the driver out with a single punch, he grabbed the man's waist and then he jumped away from the out of control vehicle.

The car crashed into a thick wall and it exploded upon impact. The pigtailed boy placed the driver down on the floor; he tensed once more as he felt Jackal's presence suddenly appear behind him.

"Here!" he said as he handed the disk that was inside the small suitcase. "It's the same one from the photos I have. I've done my part, it's all up to you now… I'm going home, ja na… Dr. Jackal."

He walked a couple of steps before his muscles tightened. _'I knew it…'_

=====

Ranma jumped just in time to avoid being stabbed by the operating knives. Jackal quickly took out four more knives and threw it towards the airborne pigtailed boy. Ranma manage to deflect two of the knives but the other two managed to graze his face and neck. The pigtailed boy landed roughly, he glared at the dark figure in front of him.

"Jackal… you…"

Akabane held the tip of his hat as he smiled. "I must say that I am impressed by your abilities Ranma-kun. I knew there was something about you that was so familiar… I am glad that I was finally able to figure it out." he politely said.

Ranma wiped the blood on his face. "Oh yeah? What is it?"

"You and I are the same. You hid it so well that I almost overlooked it… you have already taken a life before haven't you?" Akabane asked.

The pigtailed boy's eyes widened briefly before returning to the glare he had earlier while Akabane's smile widened even more, that reaction was more than enough proof to his speculation.

"As I suspected… you are just full of surprises Ranma-kun."

Ranma screamed before he lunged at Jackal with a right hook but to his surprise, Jackal was already gone. He was even more shocked when he sensed the transporter's presence behind him. Akabane immediately summoned his knives and he began to carve his trademark 'J' onto Ranma's back. Jackal stopped when he noticed that only the shirt was being ripped, he turned his head to his right and chuckled slightly.

"My, my, you never cease to amaze me Ranma-kun. I truly am enjoying every minute of this mission; I am getting more than I bargained for…" Akabane said as he pulled out another set of knives from his hand.

Ranma's glare never faltered. "Just shut up Jackal… Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

Countless number of punches worked their way into Akabane's defense. The transporter's quickness was truly astounding but he couldn't dodge them all, a few of the punches connected to various parts of his body. Akabane knelt from the barrage but Ranma wasn't about to give him a chance to recover, the pigtailed boy jumped high and performed a downward flying kick that was aimed for his 'partner'. It came to a surprise when Akabane merely smiled under his hat, he held out his arm and something red can be seen coming out of it.

"Bloody Sword…"

Blood gushed out of Ranma's chest as Akabane did a diagonal slash with his new weapon. The pigtailed boy rolled backwards as he clutched his chest in pain. He looked up and finally got a good look at the weapon, a blood red long sword with a cross style hilt. _'A sword…? An energy sword or is it another one of his knife techniques?'_

Akabane smiled. "I never thought that I would use this technique that quickly in a fight. You are turning out to be quite an adversary Ranma-kun… I do hope that you are the one that can bring out the full extent of my power."

Ranma got up albeit shakily and he shook his head to snap him out of his musings. He recklessly charged forward once more. Akabane frowned at the boy's straightforward tactics; he waited until Ranma was in range before doing a downward strike with his bloody sword. The transporter's eyes widened as the pigtailed boy caught the sword with his right hand, not really minding if that hand gets wounded or not. Ranma then concentrated as he arched back with his other hand.

"Mouko Takabisha!"

The golden wave of ki swallowed Akabane whole and Ranma felt the bloody sword slowly dissipated from his grip. The pigtailed boy saw the tattered remains of Akabane's clothing that was slowly falling to the ground but there was no sign of Dr. Jackal anywhere.

"Bloody Rain…"

Ranma was introduced to a number of bloodied knives that fell from up above. Akabane reappeared behind Ranma's back once more; his upper clothing was gone to reveal his scarred body with two very noticeable marks. One was the obvious, thick and ugly looking scar that runs from his collarbone to the navel. The other one was a strange tattoo that was marked onto the upper part of his left arm.

The pigtailed boy did not even wait for Akabane to talk, he ignored the pain of the stab wounds as he performed two consecutive leg sweeps but the transporter merely hopped backwards to avoid the attack. Ranma was still in his crouching position when he attempted an upward palm strike that connected to Akabane's stomach. He followed it up with another leg sweep that successfully knocked Jackal off of his feet. Ranma jumped with the desire to crush Jackal's head with his feet but the good doctor had that smile once more.

Ranma's eyes widened when his back was struck by a couple of knives. _'H-how…?!'_ His thoughts were cut short when he noticed that Akabane was already on his feet and it seems like he was eagerly awaiting his descent. Akabane held his palm up and a red cross shaped symbol appeared on it.

"Bloody Cross!"

Akabane watched with a frown as Ranma was flung to the other side of the area, leaving blood splatters on the floor as he did so. _'Was he smiling when my bloody cross connected?' _He slowly approached the bleeding pigtailed boy, who was currently slumped against a wall and there was a large wound that almost covered his entire chest area.

Ranma spat out some blood. "Fi… finish it… Jackal… kill me." he basically pleaded to Akabane but he said it with a small smile on his face.

Dr. Jackal summoned another set of knives but he quickly retracted them a few moments later. He chuckled slightly before he began to walk away from the downed pigtailed boy. "It seems that you did not use your full strength Ranma-kun, I am very disappointed in you for doing that. I will not continue this fight for I wish to see the real you… I would like to fight the one that can perhaps bring out everything that I have."

He then turns and gave Ranma another smile. "Well then, I must not keep the client waiting. I do hope that we can fight seriously next time."

"Jackal!!!" Was all Ranma could say before unconsciousness claimed him.

=====

Paul looked at the distraught woman that was sitting miserably on a stool inside his café. She came in here just a few minutes after he opened the shop and immediately asked for his help to find Ranma. Hevn already received a call from the client saying that the disk was delivered as promised and the mission was a success but the pigtailed boy they had grown to care about in just a short period of time hasn't returned yet.

"Here Hevn… drink this, it will help calm down the nerves."

Hevn nodded as she drank the cup of tea. "I just couldn't help but worry about him. I got him into this line of work… I didn't do anything to even change his mind back then so I feel as if I'm responsible for his safety." she finished sadly.

Paul had an understanding look on his face. "True… when he recovered from his wounds the first time we met him you already offered him a job as an all around agent with the abilities he has and Ranma accepted the offer without any hesitation whatsoever."

He gave a reassuring smile to the blonde woman. "Don't worry too much Hevn, he's very strong you know and I think that Dr. Jackal won't be that big a problem for him. I even bet that he can survive through anything if he wanted to."__

The blonde sighed. "I guess you're right… I'll probably stop by his place tomorrow morning to see if he has returned." she said as she began to leave the café.

Paul watched as the blonde took her leave. _'Problem is… does he really want to live? His eyes told me that he doesn't… I had those very same eyes once as well.'_

=====

"How is he?"

"I managed to treat most of his injuries but the rest will be up to him. Don't worry sister, there is a high probability that he will fully recover but I'm a bit worried… whoever attacked him must still be in the area."

"Let's not worry about that now."

----

Splash!

A cute red-head popped up from the canal she just fell into. She stood up while muttering curses that she can think of at that moment in time.

"Hello down there! Do you need any help young lady?"

Ranma-chan looked up and saw a beautiful auburn-haired woman in a kimono looking down at her in concern. The woman grabbed the bundle she was carrying earlier and offered the end of it to help the soaked red-head out of the canal.

"Here, hold on to this and I'll pull you up."

The red-head nodded and grabbed the end of the bundle… only to scream in pain as her hands were suddenly slashed wide open. She took one look at her bleeding hands before she looked up and saw that the one she grabbed was the katana without the sheath. Her blue eyes widened when she saw a shadow loomed behind the woman, the shadow pulled out the knife and held it against the woman's neck and then…

----

=====

Ranma woke up wide-eyed as he frantically screamed. He tried to sit up but someone was preventing him from doing so. He turned to the side and saw a woman with long brown hair, brown eyes and has a pink cloth wrapped around her forehead.

"Please calm down! You'll only aggravate your injuries if you recklessly move around!" the woman pleaded.

The blue-eyed boy took a few more minutes before he was finally able to compose himself. He then allowed himself to be assisted back to bed. "Who are you? For that matter, where am I?" he asked with a wince.

The brown-haired woman smiled slightly. "I'm Kakei Sakura, pleased to meet you. My brother Jubei and I found you near the car crash last night here in Mugenjou, you were bleeding pretty badly and there were times that we thought that you weren't going to make it… you're injuries were quite unique Mr…?"

"Huh? Oh, Ranma. My name's Ranma, pleased to meet you." he replied while trying to ignore the pain. "Um… thank you for saving me Kakei-san."

Sakura smiled. "Don't mention it Ranma-kun."

"Please, just Ranma. I've heard enough of that last night." He glumly replied.

The girl nodded. "Alright… in return, you can just call me Sakura."

Ranma chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I'll do that."

=====

"Darn it, those guys are so persistent." Paul mumbled as he removed a flyer that was posted on the caf's front door. He was about to go inside when he noticed a young, dark-haired girl in a school uniform standing a just outside the café. The girl stood there for a little while and then she slowly made her way towards him.

"Um… is this the place where I can find the retrieval agents called the Get Backers?" she timidly asked.

Paul raised a curious eyebrow. "Eh?" _'Those idiots, turning my café into their headquarters.' _"Err… kind of, let's talk inside. I'm sure that those two will be here shortly."

The two entered the café; Paul felt a migraine coming from the antics of those two idiots while the girl looked sad for some reason. Paul decided to lighten the mood a little; he put down his newspaper and began to cook something for the teen.

"Here you go… my special pizza, on the house." Paul offered to the downcast girl.

The girl's mood brightened a little. "Really?" she asked, Paul nodded with a smile. "I think I'll take a bite… wow, it looks good!" the dark-haired girl exclaimed. She took a bite of the pizza and then she complimented on how delicious it was.

"Why are you looking for those two anyway?" Paul asked, curious as to why this young lady decided to hire those two idiots for work. _'Kami-sama knows how pathetic they look like in advertising their line of work.'_

The girl returned to her downcast look. "I… I want them to get back something very important to me. It was given to me by the person I cared about the most so I have to get it back…"

The two talked about small things to lighten up the mood. The girl couldn't finish her pizza as a single slice was still on her plate, she mumbled her apologies but Paul just shrugged and said that she was about to see two wild animals that will fight to the death just to fill their stomachs. True enough, the door opened and a spiky-haired man in sunglasses and a blonde man greeted Paul as they entered the café.

"Yo! Ah!!! Pizza!!!"

The two men darted past the orange-haired man and began to fight for the lone slice of pizza.

"Give it to me Ban-chan!" the blonde shouted.

"No way! I saw it first Ginji!" Ban snapped back.

Ban immediately distanced himself from the blonde man and then he drooled at the sight of the pizza slice in his hand. Ginji on the other hand, had sparks flying around his body… literally.

"Ban-chan… you're so mean! You're so mean!"

The spiky-haired man's eyes widened as Ginji began to gather his energy. "Oi! Stop it munch Gin-gulp-ji!" he said as he gobbled up the pizza slice.

Ginji grabbed Ban by the neck and proceeded to electrocute the spiky-haired man. The blonde man would have continued if Paul hadn't decided to get their attention.

"Is that how you act in front of a client?" Paul asked nonchalantly.

Both men blinked, comprehension slow in coming. They turned their heads to the side and saw the high school girl standing there with a smile on her face. "Um… my name is Natsumi Mizuki, pleased to meet you."

=====

Ranma stared impassively at his surroundings, Sakura told him not to move around yet because his injuries might act up again. She also said that she was the caretaker of this… Makubex kid so it was no problem taking care of him as well. He already met Sakura's brother Jubei and he could tell that the two of them are very trustworthy… though it still unnerved him on how much Jubei uses old fashioned speeches, that guy really needs to loosen up. His eyes suddenly hardened as he recalled what Akabane said.

_"I wish to see the real you… I would like to fight the one that can perhaps bring out everything that I have."_

_'The real me…' _he thought morosely.

"Are you feeling better Ranma?" Sakura asked as she entered the room.

Ranma looked up to see Sakura staring at him in concern. "Huh? Yes… I'm feeling a lot better, thanks for asking Sakura." He replied.

The brown-haired woman curiously looked at him. "Is something bothering you Ranma?" she inquired.

"Thank you for helping me Sakura, I really appreciate it but… I have to go. You see… I'm a retrieval agent and that car crash was my doing. I was assigned to recover a disk from the driver of that car. I succeeded but my partner, Dr. Jackal insisted on 'playing' a game… he was the one that left me a bloody mess." He explained.

"I see… but I insist that Jubei accompany you until you're outside Mugenjou at least. I think that you won't get far with that injury here…" she stopped when Ranma laughed softly. "…what's wrong?"

Ranma sobered up. "No, that won't be necessary Sakura. I'll just use this…" he said as he vanished right in front of her eyes. "Thank you again Sakura, maybe I'll come and visit some other time… goodbye."

=====

"Sigh… home, huh?"

Ranma tiredly opened the front door and then he slowly entered his home. He removed his shoes and upper clothing and was about to take a shower when he noticed a familiar blonde woman slumped on the sofa. Ranma blinked when he saw the phone she was holding tightly. _'Was she trying to contact me all this time?'_

The pigtailed boy sighed once more; he walked towards the cabinet and pulled out a blanket for the sleeping woman. He covered her up to the neck and was about to go upstairs to his room when he suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a punch.

"Where have you been?! Paul and I have been worried sick when you hadn't returned yet from the mission! It's been two days…" Hevn paused in her rant when she finally noticed Ranma's bandages and injuries. "… What happened? Did you have a fight with Dr. Jackal?"

Ranma rubbed his cheek as he stood up. "Ouch… that was pretty darn good… for a girl." His patented foot in mouth acted up once more.

"What does that suppose to mean?!" Hevn shrieked as she did her own version of the demon head.

The bruised and battered boy shrank under the woman's fiery glare.

"Honestly! If I'd have known that you'd show up just to insult me like that then I wouldn't have bothered to worry about you at all! I won't give you a job for a week, you better remember that!"

While Hevn continued to complain on just about everything she can think of, Ranma just watched the blonde's tantrums with a small smile. _'Glad to see you too Hevn.'_

=====

Makubex watched with interest from his computer as he played back the scene in which Ranma demonstrated his Umisenken invisibility technique on Sakura.

"Interesting, he left little to no trace of his presence in the area after doing that. Then if this Dr. Jackal can do that much damage to him… hmm… Ranma and Dr. Jackal."

He clicked a button on his keyboard and a few diagrams and schematics appeared on the monitor. _'The final pieces for this plan to work… I think I'll give this job to the two of them.'_

=====

**AN: **Well, decided to do this chapter, R&R please. I wanted to do the scene with Akabane so much that I couldn't concentrate on my other fic. I'll probably put in a few more scenes from the anime to let the readers know which part of the series does the chapter take place (Like the scene earlier with Natsumi which was from episode 1).

**Next Retrieval Agent Rivalries**


	3. Retrieval Agent Rivalries

A Ranma ½ Get Backers crossover fanfiction

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ranma ½ and Get Backers, although I dream about it every other day, especially a certain someone who wants nothing more but to find out his own limitations in battle, ah, sweet bloody sword.

**_A Life Renewed_**

_By Insane Blight_

_Retrieval Agent Rivalries_

"This is wonderful Auntie! Thank you!" Ranko squealed in delight, though the smile on her face was a little forced if you look at it long enough.

Nodoka beamed at the young red-head girl as she placed her present around the girl's neck, a beautiful, golden pendant. "You're welcome, Ranko-chan. Oh, I wish I'd have been you're mother. I really enjoy spending my time with you Ranko-chan, it's like we're practically mother and daughter!"

Ranko shuddered at the statement, her face contorted into one of disgust, then one of guilt. Nodoka noticed this and quickly became concerned for the red-haired girl.

"What's wrong Ranko-chan? Don't you want me to treat you that way?"

The cursed girl shook her head. "It's not that Auntie. I… I just miss my mother. I wish I could meet her face to face one day and just talk to her about everything. If by some chance that wish comes true, I'm scared at what she would think of me. Is she going to like me for what I am or is she going to reject me? I don't really know what she is like. It's kinda hard to remember someone you haven't been with ever since you were a child."

"You don't remember your own mother?" she asked incredulously.

Ranko nodded meekly. "I never really knew my mother. My pops kept me away from her all these years. I don't even know what she looked like until I saw a photo of her recently…" she stopped when she noticed tears falling down her face. _'Crying…? I'm… crying? I can't cry… I'm a man! A man doesn't cry…'_

Nodoka's heart went out to the young girl beside her. She quickly grabbed the girl in a comforting hug, making the red-head girl cry even harder as she hugged her back with all her might. The Saotome matriarch rocked the girl back and forth, humming a soothing tune as she did so. "I told you this before Ranko-chan, but I miss my son just as you miss your mother."

The red-haired girl looked up and saw Nodoka's sad and tearful eyes. "I miss my little baby so much. I'm starting to regret giving him to my husband for that training trip. If I didn't know better, I think that they're trying to hide from me. I don't understand… did something happen to them? Or… is Ranma not manly?"

Ranko cringed while she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Um… Auntie…? What if he doesn't live up to your description of m-manliness? Are you r-really going through with that seppuku contract?"

Nodoka's face softened. "I… I don't even know if I can really do that to my own child but if honor demands it… Oh… I just wish that I could talk to him just once. I truly miss his innocent and heartwarming smile…" she said wistfully.

The red-head girl hesitated but decided to get this stupid charade over with. _'I only hope that you're as kind to the real me just as you were to Ranko.'_ "A-Auntie…? I have s-something t-to say… I… I…"

=====

_'Next stop… Shinjuku, please be sure to check your possessions before going out of the train. Thank you for your time.'_

Ranma snapped wide-awake upon hearing the announcement. _'I'm finally back, who would have thought that the thief turned out to be a little kid. Well, at least I got that old lady's stuff back.'_ he thought with a smirk, it wasn't pretty, meaning he destroyed half of the area but at least he accomplished his work.

"Ha! I guess I showed her… stupid Hevn, a week without a client." he mumbled to himself. _'Man, I'm hungry. I hope Paul doesn't mind me barging in this early.'_

He was about to go up the stairs when he accidentally bumped into someone, causing both of them to fall to the ground hard. Ranma rubbed his bottom as he looked at the person in front of him. Said person has long, brown hair with a pair of bells attached to the right side. The person was wearing a white crop top, light grey pants and black leather shoes.

The one thing that got Ranma's attention the most was the person's look. At first he thought that the person was a woman but the pigtailed boy had a couple of experiences in this so he checked again and yup, it's a man alright. He raised an eyebrow at the woman… err… man that was currently dusting himself off. He can't put his finger into it but there is something about this guy that made him weary for some reason. He quickly dismissed the feeling he had, no need to be suspicious of someone you just bumped into.

"Sorry about that. Are you alright?" Ranma asked in concern.

The man smiled, standing up. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

Ranma sighed in relief. "That's good. Well, I better be going now… sorry again."

The brown-haired man became thoughtful as he watched the pigtailed boy ran up the stairs and out of the train station. _'Strange… why does he remind me of Ginji-san all of a sudden?'_

=====

Speaking of which…

"Oi! Ginji! Get up and help me distribute these!" Ban shouted angrily at his sulking partner.

The blonde was currently leaning at the side of their car, feeling a little dried up. "What the use Ban-chan? We've been advertising for almost a week now and we still don't have a client other than Natsumi-chan."

Ban smacked Ginji on the head. "That's why we're going to do this again and again until a client comes! Hevn is no good! She practically swindled us on the mission she recently hired us to do! When it was all over, that big boob lady got more money than the two of us combined so we have to do the jobs by ourselves!"

"But the people here are not paying attention to us!" Ginji griped.

"That's why we have to continue doing this! Now come on and help me with these flyers!" Ban yelled, grabbing his partner by the shirt.

Ginji ignored Ban's order, his eyes widening at the scene happening to their side. Ban was about to smack the blonde on the head one more time but decided to take a look at what Ginji was staring at. His jaws dropped when he saw their car being towed away and with them having little to no money…

"Ban-chan…?"

"Yeah?"

"We're homeless Ban-chan!"

====

"Oh! A customer! Welcome!"

Ranma smiled at the dark-haired teenage girl that greeted him. He turned to the side and gave a slight wave to the orange-haired man that was currently reading today's newspaper. "Hey! I hope you don't mind me coming this early, master."

Paul looked up from his paper and just chuckled at him. "No, I don't mind at all. You're the only retrieval agent willing to pay for his food in the first place so you're more than welcome than those two idiots. Say, where have you been anyway? Hevn was looking for you the other day, saying something about a new job she just received." he chuckled again, remembering Hevn's angry face when she couldn't reach the pigtailed boy.

"Eheh, she was the one that said that she won't give me a job for a week, so I went out and looked for a client myself. Anyway, the money the client gave me is more than enough to last me a month so I'll lay off Hevn's track record missions for now." he explained.

"Um, are you a friend of the master?" The dark-haired girl asked.

Ranma looked at her. "Huh? Yeah, my name's Ranma miss…?"

The dark-haired girl smiled. "My name is Natsumi Mizuki. It's a pleasure to meet you Ranma-san." she said happily, bowing at the man infront of her.

"I didn't know Paul had an assistant…" he wondered aloud.

"I was just hired a couple of days ago. Um… are you a retrieval agent like Ban-san and Gin-chan?" Natsumi asked. Rather eager to meet another one if that was the case.

Ranma shrugged. "Sorta… I do all kinds of jobs. The retrieval bit is just a part of it. There are still a lot of other jobs out there." he explained.

Natsumi leaned forward, curiosity evident in her eyes. "You mean other kinds of jobs? What are they?"

"Hmm… well, a retrieval agent or a re-taker as you know by now, works for a client to retrieve any kind of object or possession. This job is pretty much what Midou Ban and Amano Ginji do in Shinjuku.

There is also a transporter job in which the transporter works for a fee to move an object from one location to another. They also have to make sure that the object safely reaches its destination, meaning if the object gets stolen, they would have to do everything in their power to get it back in order to continue with the delivery process. The most common transporters that I know of are Magurama and Akabane.

Another one is a sweeper job, which basically is a contingency plan for the client in case something goes wrong. There are other jobs like infiltration, undercover and reconnaissance just to name a few."

Natsumi was in awe. "Wow… I never knew that."

Ranma took a sip of the coffee Paul prepared for him during his conversation with Natsumi. Their talk was interrupted by the sound of the door opening followed by a gaijin woman assisting a sobbing little girl into the café.

=====

"So, you want to hire the Get Backers to recover your little girl's stolen doll?" Ranma asked nicely.

The mother nodded her head. "It's very important to her, it was the last present her father gave to her before him and me… um… split up." she finished embarrassingly.

Ranma placed both hands at the back of his head as he leaned back on his chair. "Why would someone steal a doll? Couldn't they just get one from a toy store? What's so special about this one anyway?"

"Well, the doll alone is worth around five hundred thousand yen. It was custom made in England but the most eye-catching feature is the dress the doll was wearing. The jewels attached around it are not fake or plastic, they're the real thing. You see, my ex-husband owned a diamond mine a couple of months back and he really wanted to make his present for our baby the very best." The mother explained, looking at her daughter, who was currently being comforted by both Paul and Natsumi.

The pigtailed boy whistled. "That's some doll alright but why don't you report this to the police instead? I'm sure they'll find the thief in a matter of days…"

"I can't wait that long. My daughter, Elaine… I can't stand seeing her like that. She really loves her father but now that he went overseas, that doll is the only thing that connects her to him. Please! You have to help us! Please return the smile on my daughter's face!" she pleaded.

Ranma sighed. "Although I'm not a Get Backer, I am still partially a retrieval agent. Fine, I'll take the job, don't worry about anything ma'am."

"Oh, thank you! I'll pay you any amount you want, just get back my daughter's doll."

Surprisingly, the pigtailed boy just nodded to that kind of offer. He walked towards the crying little girl, smiled and knelt in front of her as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Elaine, is it? Please don't cry, I promise that I'll recover your doll back in no time so rest easy." he said in a very caring tone that had Paul raising an eyebrow at the scene before him.

The little girl looked at his reassuring smile through those teary eyes. She nodded to him and thanked him in advance, saying that she'll wait for him with her doll right there at the café.

=====

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon in Shinjuku Park. Ranma was not enjoying it though, so far he hasn't found a single trace of that doll or any signs of the thief from the description Elaine gave him. _'Kuso! Why did I make that promise anyway? I guess I'm just too soft for my own good.'_

He was about to call it a day when he spotted a very familiar blonde and a certain man in shades running at high speeds across the street while carrying a fairly large doll that matches the description his client gave him. "Why those no good… Oh no! It's my job and whoever hired you two can rot for all I care!" he screamed as he chased after the Get Backers.

"Yatta! We can get the car back with the fee for this mission!" Ginji exclaimed happily.

"Yeah! We can also have a decent meal too!" Ban added in.

"Oh no, you don't!!!"

Both men stopped when they saw the pigtailed boy blocking their way. Ban and Ginji looked at each other, and then decided to charge right through Ranma, thinking that he was probably just another one of that thief's accomplice.

Ranma frowned. He swung his arm and a vacuum blade quickly made its way to the two men. Ban and Ginji jumped to the side to avoid the deadly projectile all the while preparing to fight as well. The spiky-haired man caught Ranma's attention long enough for Ginji to deliver an electric shock with just enough force behind it to stun the pigtailed boy for a little while. The Get Backers hurriedly ran away from the stunned Ranma not long after.

"Wait!" Ranma yelled out. He was about to go after them again when the one with the glasses surprisingly turned around and looked him in the eye…

=====

"I said wait… wha? Where am I?" he wondered out loud. _'Where am I? Why am I in a place like this?!' _He found himself inside a large room that is full of antique paintings, ornaments and dolls. "I know I'm used to weird things happening around me but this is too much…" he muttered to himself.

The ornaments suddenly started floating in the air and they quickly homed in on the pigtailed boy. Ranma dodged the vases and figurines with practiced ease but was caught by surprise when somebody or something grabbed him from behind. He turned around and saw a giant doll clamping its arms around him.

"Mouko Takabisha!"

The ki blast quickly took care of that but his eyes widened when the remains of that doll morphed into little versions of it. The small critters clung to his clothes and began biting and gnawing at him which made the pigtailed boy tense for a very good reason.

"Get away from me you monsters! Mouko Takabisha Double!"

He fired another set of ki blasts but the miniature dolls keep getting back up, multiplying in numbers as they did so. The cycle continued over and over until Ranma found himself buried under a huge pile of dolls.

"Get away!!!"

After a blinding flash of light, Ranma found himself standing all alone at the middle of Shinjuku Park. He blinked a couple of times and he rubbed his eyes to make sure that those doll things were really gone. He then noticed a note on the ground with the words _'Just one minute! Bye!' _written on it. It took a few more seconds before he was finally able to put two and two together, his eye contact with the one called Midou Ban just prior to the appearance of those doll illusions. He slapped his forehead for his carelessness, especially in the middle of a mission.

"Just one minute…? Oh, so that's the power of his Jagan… feh! So that's how they want to play it huh?"

=====

_'You two may know your way around the streets of Shinjuku but I know the way around the rooftops.' _Ranma thought with a smirk. _'Where are you? Aha! Gotcha!'_

The two retrieval agents were sprinting down the street and then they went inside a narrow alleyway, probably to catch their breath. Ranma watched from above as both Ban and Ginji leaned on a wall, seemingly dead tired. He chuckled when he thought of something that'll get them back for that illusion trick they pulled earlier.

"I think we've ran far enough." Ban said in between gasps.

"I guess you're right, he can't possibly keep up with us now… huh?" Ginji blinked at the hand tapping his shoulder, it was not Ban's and it certainly wasn't his so he came up with his own conclusion. "A Ghost!" he shrieked, jumping back a little.

A ki wave struck Ban before he could even react to Ginji's outburst; he was promptly slammed into a wall for his troubles. Ginji was getting freaked now. He was practically shaking like a leaf that is until he heard the sound of a joyous laughter echoing around the area.

"Hey guys, thanks for keeping an eye on this for me!" Ranma grinned, snatching the doll from Ginji's shaky hands as he appeared beside him. "Sorry, but I have to keep a promise I made to someone. See ya later, Dakkanya-san!"

"Wait! Come back here you thief!" Ban yelled, not minding his injuries at all.

=====

"Ban-chan, what do we do now?" Ginji asked.

"I don't know, maybe we could ask Paul for some money. I know it's a long shot but what other options are there? That thief is good, how did he do that trick anyway? I even thought for a minute that he was using a Jagan but that's not possible, I'm the only one that could use it." Ban ranted.

Both men sighed, opening the door to the Honky Tonk Café. They froze when they saw the thief from earlier handing the doll to a little girl, whose mother happened to be the one that hired them to retrieve the doll. _'He's a retrieval agent?!' _was the only thing that was going through their minds.

"Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha?!"

Ranma smiled at the two. "Yo!" he greeted.

Ban got out of his stupor and immediately grabbed the pigtailed boy by the shirt. "Yo?! Is that all you have to say?!" he screamed. He turned to the mother and scowled. "What's the meaning of this? I thought you only hired us to retrieve the doll, you didn't say anything about hiring another one!"

"Please understand… I just couldn't afford any chances. I hired this nice man here first before I came to the two of you. I wanted to get the doll back as soon as possible." she explained, ignoring the scowl on Ban's face.

Ban was about to say more but Ginji tapped him lightly on the shoulders and showed him the happy smile Elaine has, causing Ban to grumble about electric eels being too kind nowadays. Ranma had a distant look when he saw that smile. It reminded him of his time with his mother, even if the time he spent with her was in the form of 'Ranko'.

"Niichan?"

"Huh?"

"Thank you for giving me my doll back!"

"Ah… yeah…"

Ranma chose to leave the place a few minutes later, pain evident in his eyes. He totally ignored both mother and daughter calling him back to receive his payment and especially the number of curses Ban was shouting at him. Ginji on the other hand, looked at the pigtailed boy's retreating figure with a sad face. _'He hated seeing a happy family?'_

=====

_I told you this before Ranma-kun, you should tell her already. You'll regret it later on._

The pigtailed boy removed his shirt, exposing his still wounded chest. He stood infront of a mirror inside his house and placed a hand on his stomach, absentmindedly rubbing the deep scar on it, and his eyes took a semi-lifeless state before he shook himself out of it.

_Mo… Mrs. Saotome? Can I come in, please…? I need to s-see you… just one more time… please!_

He slowly went upstairs, his face darkening with each step. He opened the door to his bedroom and immediately went over to the desk, his eyes staring at the broken pendant that was simply laying there.

_Mom…? Wake up! Mom…? No!_

He shakily reached for the pendant. His vision was getting blurry the closer he gets to it. He grabs it and quickly sat down on the bed, his hands carefully sliding through the small inscription that was engraved on it.

_What did you do?! Murderer!_

The blue-eyed boy hung his head, not minding that a few tears were starting to fall down his face and onto the golden pendant. "Mom…"

=====

Next day…

"Ah! That's disgusting!"

"Mommy, what are those men doing there?"

"Don't come near them!"

Ban and Ginji were slumped against a wall, looking like yesterday's garbage. Their eyes were baggy, their hairs were a mess, drool was falling down their mouths and flies were beginning to surround them. Ban wanted to take Ranma's fee instead but the Elaine refused his pleas and groveling. In the end, the two of them got nothing out of their job plus they used up the last of their own money so they can't even buy a decent meal no matter how much they want to.

"Ba… Ban-chan… I'm hungry…" Ginji managed to squeak out.

"You and me both… who was that guy anyway? Trying to butt in on our business…"

Their whining was put to a stop when a couple of rice balls suddenly appeared right in front of their eyes along with a smiling old man, who was also infront of them. "Here, eat this. It's not much but it should help." The old man kindly offered to the two depressed youths.

Ban and Ginji looked at each other, an idiotic grin forming on their faces. They then began to devour the food in a matter of seconds. "We're saved!"

=====

**AN: **Sorry for the wait, I really just couldn't write anything these past few weeks. Well, another one done. I hope I can get the next one out faster, Ja!

**Next Gone Neko?! Uh Oh…**


End file.
